What is the Tomatometer®?

The Tomatometer rating – based on the published opinions of hundreds of film and television critics – is a trusted measurement of movie and TV programming quality for millions of moviegoers. It represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show.

From the Critics

From RT Users Like You!

Fresh

The Tomatometer is 60% or higher.

Rotten

The Tomatometer is 59% or lower.

Certified Fresh

Movies and TV shows are Certified Fresh with a steady Tomatometer of 75% or higher after a set amount of reviews (80 for wide-release movies, 40 for limited-release movies, 20 for TV shows), including 5 reviews from Top Critics.

Not a Hughes classic, this is a bit of a misfire. But it's still a trip to go back to the late '80's and imbibe in some Akroyd & Candy, a sweet time looking back - the Cold War was ending, we were winning, and the future seemed to burn brighter & brighter ... until 2nd term Clinton, Lewinsky, & the arrival on-scene of the hapless George W. Bush. No one had heard of al Qaeda. Why didn't we send them some Hughes movies to watch to keep 'em busy & laughing at the great satan in the decadent West. And Hughes; a huge talent, gone too soon, the king of coming-of-age, in his last collaboration with this director.

Growing up, and still to this day, every summer my family and I would visit our cousin's cabin up at Shuswap Lake. This film reminds me about all the shenanigans that normally goes down on a trip up to the lake. Boating, fishing, wild animals, all that great stuff. Sure most of these jokes involving those things have been done to death before, but you still enjoy watching these characters experience them. That's because John Candy and Dan Aykroyd are both extremely charismatic in their roles. Yes the story has been done to death and you generally know where the film is going, and yes not all the jokes are laugh out loud hilarious, but you have a smile on your face from start to finish. For that reason alone, I would recommend it. I would fit this into the "Old VHS tape at the lake" kind of films. That's where this film will have it's best viewing experience. A fun watch!

You know, I've never thought about this until now, but I really miss seeing John Candy. And I realize that John Candy passed when I was only 6-years-old, but I think comedy nowadays is missing someone who can very easily portray these affable characters. The closest thing, and it doesn't even come close, that we have these days in Kevin James. And Kevin James is, honestly, a terrible comedic actor, just good at giving off the appearance of being a likable and friendly. As far as actual talent is concerned, John Candy is universes better than Kevin James. Did John Candy have the best track record in films? Particularly in the 90s until his death. No, no he didn't. But he was a good comedic actor regardless and, like I mentioned earlier, I've just come to the realization that I miss seeing him. It would have just been interesting to see where his career ended up. Sadly, it is not to be. Anyway, onto this movie. If I'm being honest, the movie isn't really that consistently funny. I don't wanna say it's painfully unfunny in some parts, but there's some jokes that definitely miss the mark quite badly. In fact, to me, the funniest moment of the entire film comes, literally, like 5 minutes or so before the film ends. There's this bit at the beginning where you see a shotgun lamp, it's exactly what it sounds like. So at the end of the film, when the bear breaks into the house and starts rampaging around, the owner of the campsite comes with the shotgun lamp. But before he's able to shoot the bear, he has to find a place to plug it in. It sounds silly, and it actually is, but it was actually really funny in execution. And that's really a shame that the best bit of the entire movie comes just before it actually ends. As far as John Hughes movies go, this is obviously not one of his best efforts. That's not to say it's a bad movie, because it's not. I liked the tone of the film, it's just got a very easygoing tone. It doesn't take itself too seriously. And, realistically speaking, with the plot being what it is, why the hell would they ever take themselves too seriously. This very much reminds me of Brother Nature. Or rather Brother Nature, obviously, took some inspiration from this movie. I don't think that can be denied. And not even necessarily the whole outdoors theme, because plenty of movies have been made that take place in the outdoors. I just mean more the thematic elements, where a guy, thinking he's gonna spend a relaxing week with his family (or in the case of Brother Nature, with his girlfriend's family) is given a surprise when his annoying in-laws invite themselves over to their lake house for the entire week. You've seen this movie before, and not even necessarily in a lake house, and you're likely to see it again. And you know the stuff they get into, they get into slapstick and sitcom-y antics that just adds to Chet's growing frustration with his brother-in-law, Roman, played by Dan Aykroyd. Though this movie isn't necessarily like Brother Nature, where it just builds up to a boiling point where Chet just loses his fucking mind and lashes out at Roman and his family. At the very least, this movie doesn't do that, which would have been the predictable thing to do. Even though I'm sure John Candy would have had a great blow-up at Aykroyd and it would have been entertaining as well. There's no real story to speak of honestly and, really, in this movie, that doesn't really even matter. The characters are likable, even if they have next to nothing to do in terms of actually developing their characters. This isn't The Breakfast Club, that's for sure. The film, really, even in its average state, is somewhat entertaining to watch regardless of the fact that it might not be the most consistent comedy out there. Tone has a lot to do with that, sure, but also nostalgia helps. Though, at least in my case, the nostalgia didn't keep me from seeing this movie as it was. The cast is good, no complaints there. John Candy and Dan Aykroyd have strong chemistry and they're really the driving force behind everything. There's a romantic subplot with Buck, but it's literally just the most basic, uninteresting romance you've ever seen. Buck meets the girl. They find each other cute. They become a couple by the second day they've known each other. It's really not very good. With that said, though, this was still an average movie. I can't say you should go out of your way to watch this, but if you're in the mood for something goofy, then this will be fine. It's not great, or even good, but it will keep your interest for 90 minutes.

The critics hated this, and while I get that it is not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, this movie still makes me laugh from time to time. It is a bit all over the place, but it has memorable moments in it that I still find entertaining. It is not the worst comedy to come out of the 80's.

A father's plan for a peaceful family getaway to the wilderness is interrupted when his obnoxious brother in-law unexpectedly arrives with his family that includes two strange little redheads. This comedy is brainless fun. This movie doesn't take itself seriously so neither should the viewer.

It's a fun, campy movie... only a really dull person wouldn't find enjoyment in it. Candy did a great job including a strong monologue scene, while Aykroyd's character was poorly conceived and written, leaving him with a garbage role to act.

- Not a great movie by any means but i love John Candy and used to watch this as a kid, I've seen it countless times so there's a high nostalgia factor here. Give it a try.- Childhood fave that is still fun to watch. Just saw again for maybe the 8th time. So much fun watching John Candy...